Today’s announced deal with Razer will give IOUpay access to over 50,000 quality merchants, expanding its BNPL footprint further in Malaysia and deepening its relationship with SEA’s leading merchant services provider.
SEA fintech fast mover IOUpay (ASX:IOU) is continuing to expand its footprint in Malaysia, after signing an agreement with Razer Merchant Services (RMS).
The one-year, renewable deal will see RMS refer and onboard its network of more than 50,000 merchants to utilise IOU’s BNPL payment services.
In addition to the physical in-store merchant sites, Razer’s merchants include the online e-commerce sites for many major global brands.
Razer will also be responsible for the integration of IOUpay’s BNPL service offering with the acquired merchants’ webpages and e-commerce platforms, along with ensuring that IOUpay’s logo and other branding materials are properly displayed.
The deal is set to give IOUpay strategic partner access to selectively acquire Razer’s quality merchants and customers. With systems integration and automatic onboarding, the deal should facilitate low-cost mass market penetration for IOUpay’s BNPL platform myIOU which will be officially launched in Malaysia today.
More than just a commercial deal
RMS has been established for over 15 years, and is now one of Malaysia’s largest merchant services and e-payment networks under the Razer Inc. group of companies.
It’s also one of the leading payment gateway providers in Southeast Asia, processing online and offline payments for blue-chip merchants operating in the region.
Today’s deal is not the first time that IOU has struck an agreement with Razer.
In May, IOUpay signed a deal with RMS Reloads, a Razer Fintech company, to provide collection agency services that will enable IOUpay customers to make over the counter BNPL instalment payments at any merchant across RMS’s extensive network of more than 10,000 physical retail outlets in Malaysia.
IOUpay therefore sees today’s agreement as far from just another merchant referral deal, but instead one that will further deepen its relationship with Razer – a strategic partner who manages payment processing and related services for 50,000+ merchants in Malaysia alone.
“This deal recognises the deepening relationship that we’re building with Razer,” said Paul Russell, an IOUpay non-executive director, who Stockhead caught up with recently.
“It’s all about establishing strong ties with a quality partner who manages a significant community of digital economy merchants and consumers.”
However, Russell said that out of the pool of 50,000+ merchants, the company plans to onboard only those who will fit into IOU’s own branding.
“We will go through a selection process with RMS, and we’ll be working and onboarding only those merchants who are going to work best with our BNPL product and premium brand values,” he told Stockhead.
He explained that Razer’s well-established and highly credible reputation aligns with IOUpay’s values and makes the company a great partner to launch its BNPL app offering myIOU, which is to be officially launched in Malaysia today with an impressive virtual launch event including Malaysian digital economy dignitaries and commercial partners.
BNPL focus
Through its digital payments and mobile banking businesses, IOUpay has the goal to become one of the leading digital transaction processors in the booming cashless economies of Southeast Asia.
The region, with a population of 650 million people, presents a major opportunity as a significant number of those people are either underbanked or not banked at all.
“Underbanked means they might just have a single bank account, but don’t have any credit cards or other banking products,” said Russell.
“There’s a significant number of people who are unbanked, don’t have a bank account, but they have a smartphone and might even use an e-wallet on their smartphone.”
All this represents an attractive market opportunity for innovative fintech solutions for the burgeoning digital economy.
The region’s high smartphone and internet penetration, fast growing cashless movement, and a population that is starved for credit are some of the criteria you need for a BNPL business to flourish.
And given the company’s nearly 20 years of experience in mobile banking and digital payments, it is well placed to establish a leadership position in BNPL services across all its markets.
But the company is also strategically targeting communities with strong credit profiles.
“We’re all about accessing the quality end of the consumer market. With quality data collection and analysis, it takes out the guesswork and underpins a quality receivables book.”
“That quality receivables book will keep costs down, drive sustainable profit growth, and position the balance sheet for efficient access to capital,” Russell told Stockhead.
Strategic partnerships
To leverage its strengths and build a profitable BNPL business, IOUpay has been strategically focused on developing mutually beneficial relationships with partners who manage large communities of quality digital economy merchants and consumers.
So far this year and prior to today’s deal, it has inked agreements with EasyStore, iPay88, MyP1 and RMS Reloads.
Along with today’s agreement, these partnerships have now given IOUpay access to over 135,000 merchants across Malaysia via their providers of critical payment gateway and e-commerce platforms. This represents VIP access and systems integration for low-cost acquisition of selected quality merchants and consumers.
After building and testing the myIOU BNPL platform and conducting a soft launch starting in April, the company is now ready to officially launch the product through today’s virtual launch.
The launch is being done virtually due to the COVID-19 movement control restrictions in Malaysia.
During today’s launch, the company will also announce two new BNPL product innovations that will add more flexibility and convenience for both merchants and consumers.
These innovations emphasise IOUpay’s market leadership position as a premium brand focused on quality partners and merchants, quality products and service delivery, and quality customer experience.
Online registration for the launch is still open and can be accessed via IOUpay’s social media channels on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
This article was developed in collaboration with IOUpay, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
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